Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

Friday, February 25, 2011

Brace Yourself Peñasco: Part II

-by El Gitano Peñasco, "The Peñasco Gypsy"

El Gitano Peñasco is not the sort of Gypsy who’d run around saying ‘I told you so’, but about one month ago I warned everyone that oil was going to $100 + a barrel and here we are.

Now I have another warning and especially for you merry makers who’ll be making a few bucks during this coming Mardi Gras (aka; Carnival) and Spring break. That caveat is that some well known authorities are warning us all that we have a long way to go before we see the bottom of the real estate market.

One such expert is Yale University economist Robert Shiller, who has predicted that we are “nowhere near the bottom of the housing depression” and his calculations suggest “substantial” price declines in the 20% + range are coming, possibly starting this Spring.

Other reports are suggesting that by then about 50% of all mortgage holders in the USA will be ‘underwater’ (they owe more than the house is worth). If either or both are true that is going to affect a lot of people in the S.W. USA (already one of the most depressed markets in the USA) and that will continue to impact Peñasco too!

Don’t bother calling me ‘chicken-little’ and even if you do, well, keep on ‘pumping and dumping’. But for everyone else, let the Old Gypsy pass along a little advice: Save your money, and if you're in the market to pick up some ‘deals’ in Peñasco you might want to hold out a little bit longer because doing so may very well yield (save you) an additional 20%+ on your very hard earned money.